7 Mind-Blowing Things You Need To Know About the Suez Canal In Egypt

Ingredients

Facts

Over 1.5 million workers partook in the construction of the Suez Canal in Egypt in 1869, which took over 10 years to finish. Thousands of those labourers died during construction

ِِA huge expansion of the Suez Canal was officially completed in August 6th 2015. The overall cost of the project was $8.5 billion and it took around 13 months to finish

To cut it short

The idea of the canal was so crucial, that it was passed on from one great civilization to another, before it was finally built in 1869

1850 B.C. – Pharaoh Senusret III built a smaller link between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea

300 B.C. – Historical figures including Cleopatra traveled through the canal built by Pharaoh Senusret III

1799 – French military commander Napoleon Bonaparte tried to revive the idea but received warnings about possible catastrophic flooding and had to stop

1869 – The Suez Canal was finished under the leadership of French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps and built by a company called the Suez Canal Company

It is the first mega project in Egypt since the construction of the High Dam
The Aswan Dam (commonly referred to as The High Dam), was constructed across the Nile River in 1970 and took 11 years to complete. The $1 billion project ended drought and floods in the region and provided a massive source of renewable energy.

It is a vital hub that once threatened countries of great superpowerBecause the canal is the only link between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, enormous oil ships have passed through it over the years. And with stocks from the British government and French stakeholders, the canal was in the center of a war between Egypt and the joined forces of France, Britain and Israel after its nationalization by president Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1956.

President Gamal Abdel Nasser during his 2 and a half hour historic speech to announce the nationalization of the Suez Canal

The canal was originally supposed to be home to the Statue of LibertyFrench sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, proposed a plan to the Egyptian government in 1869 to build a sculpture of a woman wearing an Egyptian robe and holding a huge torch to be used as a lighthouse. Needless to say, his offer was not received well, but almost 20 years later, the Statue of Liberty was born in New York.

It is a major waterway for global trade
– In 2013: 4.6% of the world’s oil and petroleum products passed through the canal. – In 2007: 7,700 container ships passed through the canal, that’s 7.5% of the world’s total ocean trade

Quickest shipping routeThe Suez Canal is the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia and it saves around 15 days of journey time

The 2015 expansion will change everything
The number of vessels passing through it will double from 49 to 97 transits everyday
Bringing in around $5.5 billion today, revenues will at least double in 10 years ($13.2 billion)

The Suez Canal before and after its 2015 expansion

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi at the site of the new Suez Canal on opening day

The opening ceremony of the expansion project on August 6. 2015

Egyptians wearing Pharaonic outfits as they march in front of a statue of a man digging during the opening ceremony